Wednesday, July 30, 2014

First I would like to say there is a disagreement among researchers on the Barbara Hume/William Hoge line. As new records are discovered, our line may change. I am going with this research because I have DNA matches with both her and her brother George's descendants. Records and history for George Hume are much better and more prolific than records for Barbara Hume.The period from 1680 until 1685 was one of the
fiercest in terms of persecution and a few months between 1684-85 became forever
known as the "Killing Times". Charles' brother James II had come to
the throne and was a believer in the Devine Right of Kings and a supporter of
the Roman Catholic faith. It became his sworn intent to totally eradicate the
Presbyterians.

The
Covenanters were now flushed out and hunted down as never before and the common
soldier was empowered to take life at will of any suspect without trial of law.
Usually it was done without any evidence and often as the result of the
suspicions of an over-zealous town official or Minister. Brutality in these
days defied the imagination and the persecution had no mercy on man, woman or
child, irrespective of circumstances. Any class of Covenanter once caught by
the King's troops could be shot or murdered on the spot.

Sir James Hume and
his wife Marjorie Johnson, and their two children, born inPaisley Abbey, Renfrewshire, Scotland, had been imprisoned and their land seized because they refused to
follow the "Kirk" decreed by the Stewarts. James' brother intervened and
they were released on condition they depart for America. En-route to America Barbara's
parents died in an epidemic aboard the ship, Caledonia. William Hoge became her protector and delivered her to
an uncle, Dr. Johnson, in New York. William settled in Perth Amboy, New Jersey
and later he and Barbara were married.

The Humes came over on the ship Caledonia which was a ship used for prisoners expelled by the British government to the American
Colonies for political reasons. There are several relics of the old vessel in parts of the state of New Jersey, in the
possession of those who claim descent from those she brought to our shores.

William Hoge/Barbara Hume Headstone Memorial Marker

Barbara Hume can be looked upon as a survivor of adversity. She and her husband William Hoge lived first in New Jersey and then settled in Virginia. They worked hard and became respected landowners. They donated land and built the first log meeting house for the Presbyterian Church in Winchester, Virginia.